Life in the Toon

On Sept. 24, I boarded a red eye flight along with two of my closest friends, Drew Shimko and Kristian Robinette, to Newcastle upon Tyne, England to partake in a study abroad at Northumbria University. This is something we have been very eager to do since we were still just wee lads in high school. I write to you from my dorm in Lovaine Hall to share my experiences, both the good and the bad, from overseas via the study abroad program at Frostburg State University (FSU).

Our first night was uneventful, as we had been awake for 36 hours by our time of arrival at Newcastle International Airport. Moana and Dunkirk were both available movies to view on the plane, so naturally, we couldn’t sleep. On the way into the toon, as the local Geordies call Newcastle, we booked a taxi and feared for our lives every minute. Not that our taxi driver was incompetent, he was actually very nice, but because we had absolutely no idea where cars were coming from on the roads as they drive on the other side of the road here in the U.K. It was quite different and frightening to say the least. But we packed it in and got about 15 hours of sleep that night.

Classes did not start here until October 1, so we had about a week to explore the city and have some fun before having to worry about any real responsibilities. Newcastle is a lovely city, a bit colder here than in Maryland though. It’s big enough where there is plenty to do, but small enough where walking is a valid option pretty much throughout the entire city. We met up with our British friend, George, who goes to Northumbria and studied at FSU last semester. He gave us a tour of the city, which included his pointing out the best bars and clubs in Newcastle, as the drinking age in the U.K. is 18. We saw some of the key points of the city which we would come to realize we would see every day, including Newcastle Castle, bit of a tongue twister there.

Getting back to our dorm, we were able to meet the rest of the students on our floor and in our building. It’s quite an exotic mix, seemingly, most of the students in Lovaine Hall are international students. My neighbor is from Czech Republic and across the hall are several Germans. In our shared kitchen, there are probably six Germans, one Czech, one Brit, one Portuguese, one South Korean, a few Chinese, and a Spaniard. One of the German girls made a bread dumpling dinner for us all one night. I cut the parsley and felt very important while doing so.

The night life is pretty lively in Newcastle. It has been referred to as the third largest party city in Europe, behind London and Berlin. Toshi, my friend from Berlin, seems to be having an excellent time at the clubs in Newcastle, however. My only grievance with the night life so far has been the music. As an avid fan of the British classic rock bands like Led Zeppelin and the Who, I was mildly disappointed to learn that not much of the younger generation listens to that anymore. The vast majority of music played at clubs in Newcastle is EDM and techno. There’s also a bit of those EDM remixes where the song starts as one you like and then it changes into a bass-dropping travesty. Hate when that happens. Last night though, I went out with a group that was a bit of a melting pot of nationalities. It included an American, a German, a Brit, and a Turk. After a while of dancing to music I had never heard before, a familiar song came on that’s been buried in the recesses of my mind since middle school dances. I, of course, had to show the medley of British and international students how to Crank That Soulja Boy.

I plan to keep up with this blog of sorts throughout the semester to share my travels throughout the rest of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, France, and the Alps with you all back at Frostburg. Cheers!